After Seven Grammy Wins, Cleveland’s Elaine Martone Reflects on Music Success

Elaine Martone’s musical success is apparent when in her Shaker Heights home. Shiny gold gramophone trophies line her fireplace mantel, and there’s not quite enough room there for the combined wins of her and her husband, Bob Woods.

Seven of them are Martone’s (not counting a red-based Latin Grammy earned in 2006) while the other 13 are Woods’.

“Some of my friends come over, and they’re like, ‘Are those props?’” Martone says. “No, they’re real. And then I have one in my office, so that I have a good Zoom background.”

Earlier this month, Martone earned her third consecutive win in the same category of Producer of the Year, Classical — marking her seventh Grammy award. On Sunday, Feb. 1, shimmering in a dazzling silver jumpsuit, Martone confidently strode onstage to accept the award at the Grammys premiere ceremony.

Martone thanked various engineers and collaborators in her acceptance speech, including Franz Welser-Most and the Cleveland Orchestra, before turning to more personal notes. Thank-yous for friends and neighbors, who stepped up to help after her heart attack in August. Thank-yous for her husband and his caregivers.

Briefly, she addressed political action — adding her own words in an evening that saw speeches and statements about immigration and President Trump from stars like Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny and host Trevor Noah.

“Please, please, please. We are the creators: Use your voice for good,” Martone urged onstage. “We cannot let this insane regime continue.”

While Martone says she struggles with public speaking, she wanted her speech to bring life’s challenges to light in the glamorous evening. In the past five years, she’s been a primary caregiver for Woods, who has dementia, and has experienced the deaths of both of her parents and a close friend. Her heart attack, which luckily hasn’t left lasting damage, interrupted her busy life last summer.

“I wanted the people I was getting in front of to know that, no matter how sparkly and great everything looks, life is hard,” Martone says. “I have a wonderful life, except for a couple parts.”

Martone, now 68, grew up on Long Island and earned a degree in oboe performance at Ithaca College. The classically trained musician moved to Cleveland to study with members of the Cleveland Orchestra and, in 1980, was hired at Telarc, an acclaimed record label co-founded by Woods. There, she learned how to produce records, starting out by cleaning up the quality of test pressings and later picking up skills in digital editing.

Both Woods and Martone were let go from the Cleveland-based company after it sold to Concord Music Group in the 2000s. Since then, Martone has been prolific as a freelance producer for acclaimed jazz and classical musicians, along with stints working as a producer for the Ojai Music Festival in California and for the Carnegie Hall-based Spring For Music Festival series. All the while, she’s worked heavily with the Cleveland Orchestra as the organization’s audio producer.

Her latest Grammy award honors a body of work that includes three Cleveland Orchestra recordings, capturing live performances of works by Hector Berlioz, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Julius Eastman and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

“With Franz and the orchestra, I feel like I get to be another contributor, if not musician, in that great group. The Cleveland Orchestra, they’re the most elite musicians in the world,” Martone says. “It’s like going to the Olympics, right? They’ve trained for this their whole lives, and we get to be the witnesses of their very hard work. I feel incredibly lucky that I get to do that.

“I never expected to spend my life in Cleveland,” she adds, “but it's been a really good life.”

GRAMMYS NEWS: Cleveland-native R&B singer Durand Bernarr also won a Grammy this year. Check out our 2025 Q&A with the musician.

For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.

Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.